GNER has used the Manugistics passenger rail revenue management solutions at its London Kings Cross and York offices since January 2004. By using Manugistics' solutions, GNER is able to forecast passenger demand for GNER services and optimise both seat availability, as well as fare allocation across the GNER train network.

"The transportation industry is under growing pressure to increase asset utilisation, improve financial performance and enhance customer satisfaction," said Adrian Gonzalez, Director, Logistics Executive Council at ARC Advisory Group. "Therefore, transportation companies including the railroads are focusing on Operational Excellence initiatives and investing in technology such as Manugistics' Rail Revenue Management solution to enable smarter and more efficient business processes and decisions."

GNER operates Britain's fastest domestic railway, linking England and Scotland, using one of the UK's most heavily travelled passenger rail networks, which carried more than 15 million passengers in 2003. With increasing competition for passengers, forecasting the accurate number of passengers and planning the correct fare for each seat on each train run are business imperatives for GNER, both to help ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and achieve revenue targets.

"We recognised that we would benefit from a solution that could help us capture the greatest revenue yield from every train," said GNER Commercial Manager Andrew Markham. "With Manugistics' solutions, we can now minimise the number of unsold seats that should have produced revenue, as well as control and prevent the overbooking of trains by passengers with discounted tickets to help ensure that full fare demand is never refused. In retrospect, Manugistics' rail revenue management solutions have also helped us to measure our success and highlight when strategies need to be reviewed and revised."

Markham added, "We selected Manugistics based on their proven solutions and wide-ranging knowledge of the travel, tourism and hospitality sector, as well as the company's understanding of the unique business issues facing GNER."

"We are delighted to be working with GNER, and to strengthen and grow our existing relationship," said Manugistics Revenue Management Vice President Andy Archer. "Manugistics has deep domain experience in offering differentiated revenue management solutions across multiple industries, along with a proven track record of delivering a quick return on investment."

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